Oshkosh
2004 by
Vari-Eze and Long-EZ

July 27-31,
2004

Click on any image for a larger version

8:00am, just before launching from Livermore. Ray McCrea is
flying his yellow Long-EZ and I'm in my Vari-Eze. Our goal was to
make it to Madison, South Dakota before sunset.

Lake Tahoe.

Our first fuel stop in Wendover, Utah. The aircrew of the Enola
Gay trained here during WWII.

My trusty little pony.

Heading
for the Great
Salt Lake.

It started to get murky over Utah. My Vari-Eze is a speck in this
shot.

We dodged
rain showers across Utah and Wyoming.

The Missouri River.

We made it! 6.5 flying hours later we're on the ramp at Madison,
South Dakota. Now if we can only figure out how to get to the
hotel in a town without a taxi.

The airport in Madison is surrounded by corn fields, with
quintessential midwest farmhouses in the distance.

A 1929 Ford Trimotor at Oshkosh. Ray and I took a ride on a
showery morning.

The cabin is surprisingly comfortable. Each window has an air
vent you can open for fresh air!

Taxiing out for takeoff.

The main airshow area is off in
the distance, but you can see how many people fly in and camp next to
their planes.

Cruising over the town at 600
ft. The three big radials rumbled in a soothing way and the view
was fantastic. I can't help but think that even with all the
noise and the slow speed, cruising across the country at 3000 ft. in a
Trimotor would be more fun than flying in a modern jet airliner.

A beautiful Lockheed
Constellation.

Half of the distinctive tail.

A wonderful mural in the lounge
of the Constellation. Those were
the days when air travel still retained some of its glamor!

The Constellation cockpit.
Just out view is the engineer's station - a cozy little spot with 157
gauges to watch.

F-8 ???
I'm too lazy to look it up...

L-39, right?

We left Oshkosh on Saturday
morning and were soon cruising over the green fields of Minnesota.

I think those are the Grand
Tetons...

Western Wyoming or Idaho...

Afternoon practice sesson for
the Sun Valley Summer Symphony. They played Rismky-Korsakov's
Scheherezade that night. It was amazing!